Scooby-Doo Writer: Velma Was De-Gayed by Studio 

Jinkies! Velma was de-gayed.

James Gunn, the writer of the 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo film and its sequel, confirmed it was his intention to portray the character as "explicitly gay" before the studio, Warner Bros., intervened.

Gunn, who is popularly known for directing Guardians of the Galaxy, divulged this information Sunday after a fan implored on Twitter, "Please make our live-action lesbian Velma dreams come true."

"I tried!" Gunn responded. "In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script. But the studio just kept watering it down & watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) & finally having a boyfriend (the sequel)."

In Gunn's adaptation of the popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon about a group of crime-solving young people and their talking dog, which originated in 1969, Velma was portrayed by Linda Cardellini. The ensemble also included Freddie Prinze Jr. (Fred), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Daphne), and Matthew Lillard (Shaggy).

Deleted footage from the 2002 film shows evidence of Velma's queerness. In one scene, which has now resurfaced on Twitter, the normally turtle-necked character is dancing in her underwear in a locker room with other women. Daphne looks on, shocked. Another scene in which Velma and Daphne kiss was filmed but has never "seen the light of day," according to NewNowNext.

In a 2019 interview with the LGBTQ+ outlet, Cardellini confirmed she portrayed Velma with a queer subtext. "She thought Daphne was very beautiful, and I think she probably had feelings for her," said Cardellini, who also portrays a queer character on Netflix's Dead to Me. "But I also think there were times she had mixed-up feelings about Fred, where she couldn't decide if she liked him or maybe she was jealous of him."

Scooby-Doo was a commercial hit, but its 2004 sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, was a flop. The franchise was recently revived with an animated version, Scoob, released on HBO Max.

Tony Cervone, co-creator of the Cartoon Network TV series Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, which ran from 2010 to 2013, confirmed that his version of Velma was also written to be a lesbian in an Instagram comment. "Velma in Mystery Incorporated is not bi. She's gay," Cervone wrote.

"We always planned on Velma acting a little off and out of character while she was dating Shaggy because that relationship was wrong for her and she had unspoken difficulty with the why," he said. "I don't think Marcie and Velma had time to act on their feelings during the main timeline, but post-reset, they are a couple."

"You can not like it, but this was our intention," he added.

Amid these revelations, LGBTQ+ Velma fans flooded social media with joyous posts as well as reminders that many of them knew all along.